01 Nov Maddie + Nic | Cullman Alabama Wedding

So many times in my life my mom has said to me.. good things come to those who wait. That’s hard sometimes, but I have to agree with her, especially with regards to the images I’m sharing today from Maddie and Nic’s June wedding in Cullman, Alabama. Fun note: these two now celebrate the same anniversary as my husband and I do every year. Best day ever! Just like it was on our wedding day last year (ahem, okay, a few more years back than that), June 16th was a hot one. But it’s summertime in Alabama, so you have to be prepared for that.

Maddie and Nic chose to marry in the morning and then celebrate at the nearby home of Nic’s grandparents. The church and reception spots are literally just one block from each other. What do you do when your reception is so close?… you have a New Orlean’s style second line parade with your guests, of course! We handed out fans, parasols, and handerchiefs at the conclusion of the ceremony along with rose petals to shower the newlyweds as they exited the church. A classic car carried the bride and groom along with a jazz band leading the way to the celebration. The meal was a delicious brunch and we treated guests to a fun mimosa bar. I must say… it was so lovely.

There are a lot of photos in this post (sorry, not sorry), but I’m just not capable of pairing them down much more. They are so good! Hope you enjoy all the loveliness as you scroll and you’ll even get to read some fun post-wedding Q&A from Maddie. Enjoy peeps!

I would have added fans to our outdoor reception! Although everything was perfect, the summer heat is brutal. But if a few fans is the only thing I regret about my wedding, I think I can handle that!

The best gift we received was…

Honestly I loved the gift cards we received! We got a ton of beautiful and thoughtful gifts that I will always cherish, but being able to get things we needed for our house after the honeymoon was very helpful. So I would encourage others to not be afraid that a gift card may be too impersonal, because I can assure you that the couple will appreciate it a lot more when the wedding craziness dies down.

The most surprising thing I learned during planning was…

All the people who were involved in making my big day happen! I never imagined how much work went into a wedding and it makes me even more thankful looking back that I had an amazing wedding planner to help me through it all!

The most important thing to remember on your wedding day is…

Everyone always told me to try and take in the small moments because the day would be a blur when I looked back, and that’s exactly what I did. I made a point to try and have an intimate moment with all the people that were closest to me, if that was words of wisdom they shared, sweet hugs, or smiles from across the room. And now when I think back on my wedding day I have those special memories with each person that I love so much.

My most useful day-of beauty trick was…

Not to worry about what your hair, makeup, or dress is looking like. You will have a ton of people there to make sure you look your best, so trust them to take care of you! Just enjoy feeling beautiful with that wedding day glow.

Our favorite memory from married life so far is…I think one of my favorite memories so far was almost missing our flight back to the US from our honeymoon! At the time we were both stressed and angry, but as soon as we got on the plane, we couldn’t stop laughing about what all we had gone through to get on that flight. We were both so ready to get back home we were just about dilarious for the whole 9 hour flight.

If marriage could be summed up in one word, it’d be…

Amazing. We have had the time of our lives, and even though the “real world” is hard, it’s a little easier when you spend it with your best friend!